Tri-als and Tri-bulations

Day 2: Davison Michigan – Alta Vista Iowa Today was going to be the longest drive of the trip because there is basically nothing to see or stop for driving from Michigan to Iowa except farmland to I just wanted to lay down lots of miles. See what I did there? Miles. Not kilometres. Welcome to 'Merica. Up at 5:30 to be on the road by 6:00. One challenge though. The light in the tiny restroom (see what I did there? Getting acclimated to the language) in the RV wouldn't turn on. Now most people would call the renter and have the problem resolved. However, there are certain factors that prevented me from doing that. 1) I'm male. 2) I'm an RF engineer and believe I can solve any problem. 3) I'm male. So rather than have an elderly lady come and show me how to turn on a light I showered and shaved in the dark. First stop was the gas station to fill up. Benefit #1 of being in Merica ...... the tank was near empty and I'm used to putting in about $75 worth. Today's cost ..... $38.50. Yay! Drawback #1 of being in 'Merica ...... there's $36.50 I can put towards health care. Today was a lot of driving and rain and fog and rain and driving with not much interesting scenery but something I did notice, many dead deer. But not a single Deer Crossing sign. Stupid deer. There's no sign. Only cross at the signs. About 3 hours into the drive I saw that I didn't have any cell coverage. A half hour, hour, 2 hours later and still no coverage. I'd gotten this prepaid SIM specifically because when I checked the coverage map they showed that at a minimum they had call coverage if not data for most of my route. Not. I was still in a relatively civilized part of the country and had no coverage. I can't imagine that travelling through South Dakota, Wyoming or Montana would magically produce a signal. So I began looking for a Best Buy to get a replacement. My GPS directed me to a mall with one, I parked and of course the store was at the complete opposite end of the mall. First thing I had to do before starting the trek was hit the restroom. Now most guys are familiar with and follow the restroom urinal protocol. For you women that aren't .... let me explain. When selecting a urinal a guy should, if at all possible, leave at least a single urinal spacing between themselves and anyone else. I went into the restroom, there were 3 urinals and all 3 were vacant. Protocol dictates that I select #1 or #3 because if I selected #2 and someone came in then the single urinal spacing regulation would be violated. So I went to #1. A few seconds later someone came in and contrary to the protocol selected #2. Well that pissed me off. But what really concerned me was that he kept looking over at me every couple of seconds. Violating the protocol is one thing. Getting friendly initiates the stop and go response. Whether you're done or not you stop and go. Apparently people in Iowa are rather friendly. I ran to Best Buy. So I got a replacement SIM and got on the road again. I got to tonight's accommodation and as I mentioned earlier, there's nothing but farmland in Iowa so ...... I'd booked a ranch style farmhouse to stay at.

I went inside and it was like stepping into the 60's. It was awesome. Wood panelling, 60's furniture, tiffany lamps AND a 20” RCA color console TV.

Three problems quickly materialized. TV only showed static, no wifi key and cell coverage that only appeared every 5 minutes and only lasted 5 seconds so I couldn't call the owner. What to do? Get in the truck and drive until you find coverage. Three miles down the highway. The owner had given me 2 different numbers and I called 1 and left a message. Went back to the house and waited for her to show up but no luck. Back into the truck, 3 miles down the highway and called the other number. I left another message and drove back to the house. A few minutes later the owner arrives and proceeds to tell me that the first number I'd called was her cell phone but coverage in the area was pretty bad. Ya no guff Gertude. Which begs the questions 1) If cell coverage is bad then how are people supposed to contact her If needed? Wouldn't a home phone come in handy? 2) Why would she give me her cell number to call in the first place? and 3) Why even bother having a cell phone in this thriving metroplois, population 259. The area is great and its exactly the type of place I wanted to stay in, typical of the locale, but sometimes I really wonder how some people survive. She got the TV going, it had to be set to channel 00 to work. Hmmm, a note would have helped. She gave me the wifi key ..... 12345678. Hmmm, a note would have been helpful. But really, on this one I blame myself. A few attempts and I likely could have cracked that DaVinci Code.